


It's Not My Fault!

by AdventureAddict



Series: You've Become a Meme [4]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Al doesn't understand but he's supportive, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Ed is a massive nerd, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Light-Hearted, Modern Era, Modern!Ed, Nerdiness, One Shot, References to Star Wars: Original Trilogy, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:09:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28894173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdventureAddict/pseuds/AdventureAddict
Summary: There were a lot of things Alphonse Elric had done in his life that he had later come to deeply regret, but there was nothing he regretted quite as much as buying his brother a lightsaber.
Relationships: Alphonse Elric & Edward Elric
Series: You've Become a Meme [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1967398
Comments: 12
Kudos: 30





	It's Not My Fault!

There were a lot of things Alphonse Elric had done in his life that he had later come to deeply regret, but there was nothing he regretted quite as much as buying his brother a lightsaber. 

It had been an impulse decision. Of course it had been. If he had taken even five minutes to think about it, he would have realized what an absolutely terrible idea it was. How much torture could he have avoided if he had taken even just one extra minute to think to himself "Hm, if he's already knocked three things over in the aisle at the grocery store, how many things would he knock over in a cramped apartment?" But alas, Al's life was pain, and he had already sent three ceramic cats to an early grave. 

They had watched _all_ of Star Wars just a couple weeks before. Well, more like Ed had rewatched it and Al had been held there against his will while the movies played. He didn't particularly understand why it was such a big deal, honestly, or why Ed seemed to like Darth Vader, _the bad guy_ , the most. Al decided that it had to be because Ed's aesthetic was more important to him than morals. Because that was the only thing he could see in common between the two of them.

But they had been snowed in, and that meant everything shut down for a couple days. Ed had suggested binging all the movies in one go with a wild glint in his eyes, and Al had been too bored and too tired to notice. And of course, once Ed had started the movies, there was no stopping him. Al was just grateful the ice had melted by the time Ed had been suggesting The Mandalorian. He loved Ed, but he didn't know if he loved Ed enough to sit through two seasons of even more space nonsense. Al didn't understand it, couldn't understand it. If you wanted a movie about space, watch a movie about space. If you wanted a movie about knights, watch a fantasy movie. Combing the two into one idea just made everything a mess, in Al's opinion. 

But far be it from him to criticize something Ed was clearly so excited about. Al had hardly ever seen Ed have moments like this, moments where Al could almost see the _normal,_ excitable nerd that was buried somewhere underneath all the trauma and responsibility. Al could see it in the way Ed could talk about the series in one long breath, all his words running together as he waved his hands around wildly. 

Al didn't understand Star Wars. Not one bit. But he loved it because of the spark he saw it ignite in his brother's eyes. 

Which was exactly why Al hadn't been able to resist when Ed had spotted the toy lightsaber in the store. Ed had run to it as if he were somehow eleven again, picking it up and swinging it away from himself while making sound effects. He posed and _laughed_ in the middle of the store, and Al's heart melted. 

For the briefest of moments, it was like he could see into an alternate world, one where they hadn't lost their mom, where they had grown up being able to play and have fun like any other kids. One where Ed laughed and grinned with his entire face just because he saw something that made him happy. 

And of course Al couldn't just walk away from that. He hardly ever saw that side of Ed, and if there was a chance that a ten dollar toy could bring that side out more often, then Al absolutely wanted to take that chance. So he had talked Ed into it, even though Ed had tried to protest and say he didn't need a toy, that the money would be better used towards other, more important things. Al saw the way he kept casting sidelong looks at the lightsaber even as he argued why he shouldn't get it, though. 

All the way home, Ed talked about the theoretical science it would take to make a real lightsaber, eventually switching over to talking about how he would use alchemy to create a working lightsaber. Al never found himself more grateful for the fact that their form of alchemy didn't work in this world. He wasn't sure if the world could survive Ed with a glowing sword that could cut through anything. 

"Hey, hey Al!" Ed said, dashing out to the living room and interrupting Al from his thoughts. "Check this out!"

Ed stiffened, turning his mouth into a comically large frown, doing his imitation of Darth Vader's breathing. 

"Luke," Ed said, adopting his lowest, most serious tone. "You are a stupid whiny baby man. Nowhere near as cool as me. I have a cape. Do you have a cape? I didn't think so. Which makes me cooler."

Al knew this wasn't headed anywhere good (especially for anything breakable in the room), but he still couldn't help but giggle. To his credit, Ed managed not to break character. Ed gave Al the briefest of impish smirks before hopping to the side and looking over to the space he had just been, as if he were talking to an invisible version of himself. 

"I don't think you're cool at all!" he said, his voice switching to a navel whine instead. Al snorted and ducked his grin behind his hand. "I think you're just a big jerk! And capes are out of season!" 

"How dare you!" Ed said in the low voice, hopping back to the spot he had been standing before. "I'll teach you to insult my cape!"

Ed then raised the lightsaber with his left hand, bringing it down on his right hand. He then moved his shoulder awkwardly, and his automail arm fell out of his sleeve and to the floor with a loud clunk. 

"Brother!" Al gasped, jumping to his feet. He could only imagine how positively _enraged_ Winry would be to see her automail thrown against the ground that way, but Ed was waving a hand at him to shush. 

"Hang on, hang on, this is the best part," he said, and jumped back to his Luke position before looking at his missing arm in mock horror. "Ahhh! Nooo, my hand! You're just a big jerk! As if it wasn't enough to kill my dad, you have to go and cut off my hand too?" 

"God, I hate that I'm related to you," Ed said in the low tone, jumping back to the other position. "It really makes me look stupid when you say shit like this. I'm your dad, dumbass."

Ed then hopped back to the Luke position again, just to let out a loud scream of "Noooooo!!" Al clapped his hands over his ears. 

"Brother!" he hissed. "The _neighbors_!" 

But Ed wasn't paying much attention to Al, having collapsed to the floor in a fit of laughter. Al wanted to be mad at him, yell at him for disconnecting his automail for a terrible joke, for being loud and disruptive. But. But his laughter was so carefree and infectious, in a way that Al didn't get to see very often. As much as he wanted to lecture Ed, within a couple of minutes he was chuckling himself as he watched Ed continue laughing with complete abandon. 

This. This was the kind of moment that Al lived for, the moments that made him sure everything would be okay somehow. If even Ed could still laugh like this even after everything he had been through, then there was no way they couldn't manage to recover from just about anything. 

Al figured knowing Ed was capable of that kind of happiness and joy was absolutely worth the chaos of having a lightsaber in the house. 

**Author's Note:**

> I personally can't decide: Do you think Ed would have Darth Vader's lightsaber, because that's his favorite character, or would he have Luke's, since that matches his hair now? Or maybe he'd get Kylo Ren's because he's That Extra? 
> 
> This may or may not have been inspired by the fact that Arakawa is a massive Stars Wars nerd herself.


End file.
